Blog

Paid family leave proponents giving up on the states

Stateline reports: After lobbying state by state for years, some supporters of paid family leave say it’s time for a federal solution. A proposal in Congress from Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York would export the models used in California, New Jersey and Rhode Island nationwide. Those are the only three states with their […]

Employment policy links

$15 Now files ballot initiative to raise Seattle’s minimum wage: Activists this morning filed a Seattle city charter amendment to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2015. The measure calls for a three-year phase-in for small business and non-profit organizations and defines a small business as any with 250 or […]

Job loss from minimum wage hikes often less than expected, NCPA explains why. Increase is offset by reducing other compensation.

The National Center for Policy Analysis takes on one of the challenges posed by supporters of an increased minimum wage. Specifically, they answer the question of why job losses often come in lower than opponents predict. It’s a short, compelling research post. The gist: Both proponents and opponents of minimum-wage hikes do not realize that […]

NYT looks at Seattle minimum wage, plus some inconvenient facts on possible impacts

The New York Times uses Seattle’s $15 minimum wage initiative (small “I” so far) to highlight efforts across the country to combat income inequality by raising the wage floor. The story by Annie Lowrey leads by citing the travails of a low-wage worker whose hours have been cut back. By now, we’re accustomed to such tales […]

Amid a flurry of minimum wage actions across the country, Seattle's proposed $15 floor stands alone

The New York Times reports on the presidential push for a higher federal minimum wage. While this Congress is unlikely to approve it, the White House claims credit for the emergence of state and local actions to raise the minimum. In the last 14 months, since Mr. Obama first called for the wage increase in […]

Income Inequality Symposium: Trade-offs? What Trade-offs?

(Previous posts on the symposium are here, here, here and here.) At the same time as the panel I discussed in the last post, there was one that was held in another building, in a room with limited seating, titled “Strategies for investing in workers.” This was moderated by Maud Daudon of the Seattle Metropolitan […]

Income Inequality Symposium: Those alien business people

(Previous posts on the symposium are here, here and here.) In the afternoon, there were two breakout sessions that occurred at the same time. The one I attended was titled “How have other cities addressed income inequality? Views from experts and elected officials from cities across the U.S.” It was moderated by Eric Liu, who […]

Income Inequality Symposium: No, economists do not all agree on the impacts of minimum wage increases

(Previous posts on the symposium are here and here.) The third panel was a presentation by three University of Washington economists (Marieka Klawitter, Mark Long and Bob Plotnick). The Income Inequality Advisory Committee had commissioned a study from them looking at who would be affected by a minimum wage increase. The paper specifies that its […]

Income Inequality Symposium: "False trickle-down economics"

(Previous post on the symposium is here.) Venture capitalist Nick Hanauer was the keynote speaker of the Income Inequality Symposium. His speech consisted mostly of decrying “false trickle-down economics”—namely, the concept that if minimum wages are increased, employment will drop. According to him, “rich people and businesses don’t create jobs;” consumers are the real job […]

Complete lack of balance at Mayor Murray's Income Inequality Symposium

Yesterday, Kriss and I attended Seattle mayor Ed Murray’s Income Inequality Symposium at Seattle University. This was no balanced discussion of the potential impacts of increasing the minimum wage in Seattle to $15; instead, everyone involved seemed to have agreed ahead of time on the goodness of significantly increasing the minimum wage. All that’s left […]